Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI

September 9, 2009, Page 2

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon

Post Office mural result of Great Depression New Deal

The Mural above the postmaster’s door at the Neillsville Post Office was painted in 1940 by artist John Van Koert and is titled ‘The Choosing of the County Seat.’  (Photo courtesy of Peter Spicer/Clark County Press)

By Peter Spicer

A Neillsville Post Office mural painted in 1940 was created due to a federal program designed to help the economy during the end of the Great Depression.

Artist John Van Koert, a UW-Madison art teacher at the time, painted the mural, titled “The Choosing of the County Seat,” above the outside of the postmaster’s door inside the post office.

Many other communities throughout the country have murals such as the one at the Neillsville Post Office; the paintings were part the Federal art Project (FAP), a division of the Work Progress Administration (WPA).

The WPA was created May 6, 1935, to help provide economic relief to U. S. Citizens suffering through the Great Depression.

Many of the works created throughout the country were inspired by 1920s and 1930s Italian Renaissance fresco-style works.

Due to the popularity of this art style, some U. S. politicians decided to combine this creative art movement with American values.

U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt made several attempts prior to the FAP to provide employment for artists on relief.

The Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) ran from 1933 to 1934.

The Treasury Department Section of Painting and Sculpture was created in 1934 after PWAP ended.

However, the FAP provided the widest reach, creating over 5,000 jobs for artists and producing over 225,000 works of art for the American people.

The Neillsville mural pictures voters casting their ballots in November 1854 to determine if either Neillsville (named O’Neill’s Mills at the time) or nearby Weston Rapids, a community located three miles north of Neillsville on the Black River, would be the county seat.

The painting also depicts tactics to keep Weston Rapids voters away from the polls.

O’Neill’s Mills residents are pictured in the mural giving away free whisky to Weston Rapids voters.  Polls were open at two locations, including O’Neill’s Mills and the other at Parker’s tavern, located seven miles south of O’Neill’s Mills.

Weston Rapids residents needed to cross O’Neill Creek on a narrow log boom to vote at either of the two locations.  However, legend has it some O’Neill’s Mills residents transported La Crosse whiskey from O’Neill’s Mills over the river and gave it away to Weston Rapids loggers.

The mural may not be completely accurate because it displays the whiskey barrel on the wrong side of O’Neill Creek.

Once intoxicated, the loggers were not able to negotiate crossing the narrow log boom and were not able to get to the polls.  Neillsville became the county seat when it was selected by a 17-vote margin.